Brennan to review ‘Savage 16’ cuts

SOCIAL and Family Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan yesterday held out hope of a reversal of some of the “Savage 16” social welfare cuts that blighted last year’s budget.

But he made no firm promises of any U-turns, saying only that he would ask his department to urgently look at each of the areas again and evaluate the effect of the changes over the past year.

A spokesman for the minister said there were probably five or six areas where there was room for manoeuvre but all of the cuts would be reviewed before the December budget.